Wildfires Blazing Across Western USA – August 16th, 2012

Wildfires are raging across California, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon are burning through brush and pineforests, creating a large cloud of smoke over western USA.

The close-up focuses on the Halstead (above) and Trinity Ridge (below) fires in the state of Idaho. The Halstead fire, which was started by lightning, has burned through stands of beetle-killed lodgepole pines in Salmon-Challis National Forest, consuming 81 square miles of terrain. The Trinity Ridge fire, started due to human activity, has burned about 58 square miles.